Dragonlance: Anthologies, Book 02 - The Players of Gilean: Tales from the World of Krynn by Margaret Weis

Author:Margaret Weis [Weis, Margaret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-7869-2920-7
Publisher: Fanversion Publishing
Published: 2015-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Day came, cloudy and warm. Andura rose from bed and parted the flap at the rear of her wagon. Balmy air, scented with rain, washed over her. Though heavy with moisture, the sky seemed brighter and cleaner than it had been in many days.

The ghost had been the talk of the troupe after the show. Everybody had questions but no answers for the strange occurrence in the play. One theory going around was that somehow the whole incident had been improvised by Sebastius as a means of testing their deftness on stage. Andura and Moku won much grudging praise for their neat handling of the ghostly intruder.

The troupe broke camp slowly. The actors went about their chores with great good humor, dismantling the stage, filling the water casks and provisions cart. This last task proved unexpectedly easy. A gaggle of townsfolk appeared in the square that morning, laden with goods to sell. The drab, depleted town yielded a surprising bounty, and Thronden and the others gratefully stowed away much good food for the journey ahead.

Bannur and Havared returned, looking for Andura. The tinsmith presented her with a gift suited to his skills: a new mirror, freshly tinned and polished.

“How do I deserve this?” she asked innocently. Impulsively, she kissed the handsome Havared, bringing more color to his cheeks than had been there for a long time. Bannur pressed a small cloth bag into Andura’s palm, and the men departed.

She hefted the bag. It was nicely heavy.

It was good to meet a man who paid his debts.

Near noon, Moku appeared, a woolen muffler wrapped around his throat. Disdaining the heavy labor going on around him, he sat in his special undersized folding chair, hat pulled low over his eyes. At his feet was a basket brimming with fruits and vegetables. A true Aghar gourmand, he was eating the cores and seeds of the apples and throwing the flesh away.

Without saying a word, Andura saluted her colleague. Moku fingered his throat then touched two fingers to the brim of his hat.

Tog hitched the horses to the wagon. Andura climbed to the driver’s box and held the reins while the minotaur made sure the harness was in place. Looking past his broad, muscular back, she watched the townsfolk as they bustled around the square, going about the business of life.

“A fine morning, don’t you think?”

Sebastius was standing by the right front wheel. Andura was so content, so relaxed, she didn’t even flinch at his sudden, silent appearance.

“The night’s over,” she replied evenly. “All the shadows have been dispelled.”

A gang of children came squealing out of an alley into the square. Her attention was drawn to the girl leading the pack—Havared’s daughter Sisandra. Thin as rails and poorly dressed, they ran pell-mell through the busy square, laughing as they dodged between pushcarts and pedestrians.

She looked back at Sebastius, but he was no longer there. With a shrug, she peeked inside Bannur’s cloth bag, slowly drawing out a thick, coiled golden chain. From the look of it, it was very old, very rare, and very expensive.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.